My Sweet Bell
by Hidden Waterbird
Summary: William Lennox finally gets to go home and spend some time with his family. Ironhide accompanies him as guardian but on the way the pair receive a phone call that will change everything: DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

My sweet Bell. Chapter one (:

William Lennox and autobot Ironhide were on their way back to Will's home where his anxious wife Sara waited along with his new baby girl, Annabel. Ironhide could tell from the tight grip on his steering wheel that Will was nervous about the family reunion.

"Will, everything will be fine. The war is over and you finally get to spend some time with your family."

But Ironhide what if Sarah's found someone else? What if Annabel hates me because I missed her babyhood? The suspense is killing me!

Will whacked the steering wheel in frustration.

"Will, Annabel is only 6. And don't forget this is my first time meeting your family as well."

"I know I know, it's a dad thing. Can't you go any faster?"

"As you wish captain."

Ironhide revved his engines and grinning to himself gathered speed until he was almost at his limit.

"Thankyou Will, I haven't been able to drive like this in eons! Will?"

"Hold on Ironhide I'm getting a call."

Will picked up his ringing cell and saw it was Epps calling him.

"Hey bro whats up?"

_William, I have some bad news._

"Woah, I must be in trouble, you never use my full name." Laughed Will

_Will, this is serious, theres been an accident._

Will paused his laughing and dread flooded his mind.

"Epps, please, don't tell me."

_I'm sorry man there was a intersection and the car was..._

As Epps continued to explain the situation to Will Ironhide noticed his heart rate increasing rapidly.

"Will, is everything alright?"

"Epps hold on a minute." Will held the phone away from his ear and whispered, "Ironhide slow down you need to hear this."

Will's quiet tone trouble Ironhide so he slowed to a crawl and turned up his receivers to hear whatever had his friend worried so much.

_...They are at tranquility hospital now being treated. MInor injuries to both but she is heading into the red zone. I'm sorry Will. I'll be there as soon as I can. WIll? You there buddy? _

"Yea I'm here. Me and Ironhide are on our way."

_Ok bro stay strong and I'll see you soon._

"Will, what happened?"

"Ironhide theres been a car accident. Sarah and Bell where doing some last minute shopping and got t bared on the way home. Annabel is stable but Epps says that Sarah may not make it. Can you get to Tranquility General in time?"

The weapons specialist remained quiet then with a roar of his engines swerved round and sped towards the town hospital. Will patted the dashboard and angrily brushed the tears emerging in his eyes.

"Thanks buddy." Will whispered, unsure if his gratitude would be recognised by the warrior he'd grown fond of. The rest of the car trip was dead silent. Ironhide ignored all traffic lights, green or not he just sped through. Will protested a little but seeing how much time they were making, he slowly dropped the subject.

The duo finally reached the hospital and Will unbuckling his seatbelt, clambered out of the car seconds before Ironhide even began to slow down.

"WILL!" Ironhide yelled in a panic that all Lennox members would end up in the hospital. Will skidded across the gravel painfully aware of the road rash burning his leg, but he didn't care. He burst through the front door crashing through a few people until he spotted the receptionist.

"Where are Sarah and Annabel Lennox?" Will asked, his breath lingering and labored.

"Sir, if you take a seat I will arrange for a doctor to take you to your family." Her flat response wasn't enough for the worried soldier.

"M'am I got a call saying my wife is dying, I have to see them now!" Will stood there an angry expression plastered on his face as the receptionist scrambled for the phone. She spoke to someone for a moment then hung up. She stood from her station and walked down the corridor, motioning for him to follow.

"Sir if you'd please come with me."

They briskly walked down a corridor until the woman stopped at a door. "Your wife is in here, you have permission to see her, but not for long. The doctor will be here soon." She clattered back down the corridor as Will entered the eerily quiet room. He gasped as before him lay sarah on a bed of white sheets her complexion matching.

"Oh Sarah.."

Will kneeled by her bed tears brimming as he clasped her limp hand

"Honey, I'm here. Sarah, your going to be ok, I'm here now."

To his delight his hand was squeezed back.

Sarah Lennox spoke out hoarsely but was happy to see her husband.

"Hi, Will. I'm sorry, there was this truck and... Annabel, where is she?" Sarah voice cracked and the sound of it broke Will's heart.

"She's going to be ok sweetie, and you'll be fine too."

"No, Will, it's ok. Your a great husband and your going to be an amazing father." She struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Don't talk like that Sarah."

"Look after our Bell for me. I, I love you."

Feeling her hand go heavy and her eyes close all Will could hear was the sound of a flatline echoing in his mind. He reached over and softly kissed her on the lips whispering "I love you too."

Will stood from her bedside and slowly left the room after a couple of minutes and saw the doctor who showed him the room reach out to pat his shoulder.

William, I'm truly sorry for your loss. We did everything we could but her injuries were too great.

My daughter, where is she?

Ah yes young Annabel, she's quite the fighter. Follow me.

The pair walked down the hallway Epps came bursting through the other door. He walked up to Will and prepared to give his condolences but Will saw his sorrow in his eyes and simply pulled him into an embrace.

"Hey man thanks for coming."

No worries bro, I'm here whenever you need me.

The soldiers separated and the doctor approached a room which through a window you could see a small cot.

Epp's stayed outside watching through the window as the doctor and Lennox entered the room. Will stared in amazement saw his daughter in person for the first time. She had a few bandages and a broken arm but otherwise was beautiful.

Annabel, my sweet Bell. As long as I live and breathe, you shall be safe from harm. I swear to that.

Hope you like the story so far! Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

**7 Years Later**

It was a Wednesday and Will Lennox had just arrived home with Annabel now 13 years old. They both trudged inside their home and Annabel ran upstairs to tackle her new homework assignment. Will sat down to eat his cheese and pineapple sandwich and read through a file about energon, decepticons, what pranks the twins have been up to, the usual as Ratchet would say.

Will looked up to see Annabel running down the stairs and grabbing her coat off the kitchen chair. "Bel where are you going?

"For a walk. I have a monster load of algebra to do and I just wanted to clear my head before I started stressing out about math." She spoke with a glint in her eye, an eye for adventure. Sometimes that was what worried him.

Will never liked it when Annabel went off on her own. He knew he was protective but he couldn't help it. "I don't know, it's nearly dark."

"Daad! Don't be ridiculous it's not even 4pm! I'll only be gone for a little while." Annabel pleaded to her father.

"Well ok but just this once." Will said giving into Annabel's winning puppy dog look. As she bounded for the door he slowly began to judge his decision. " Oh and be careful of the snakes! Maybe you should just stay." Will said as she headed towards the door.

"See you later!"

Will watched her leave and sighed. "The spitting image of her mother." He scrolled down some of his file and was surprised to come across a red section. Those were rare these days as decepticon activity has been so low. "What's this?" The soldier continued reading then stopped, eyebrows raised in surprise at the information printed before his eyes. "Ironhide is going to love this."

Annabel Lennox bounded out the door in her red gumboots and set off down the trail from their house to the woods. Annabel like to think of the woods being her own little world since she and her dad moved to the country a few years ago just after the Mission City battle.

Around 10 minutes away from their little home stands a large warehouse storage building which had supposedly been abandoned. Now it is the Autobot base which Will works at as a field officer. After the accident, Will tried to leave the army completely but legal rights prevented him to do so. Annabel knows he works in the army, just not what sector he is in or anything about the transformers for that matter.

Annabel passed her dads truck patting it's hood. Annabel adored her dad's truck and always felt it had kept her safe. She passed the passenger door tracing her finger along a scratch remembering how the scratch came to be. It was around two years ago when she and Will were at a petrol station.

_flashback._

"_Dad can I get some liquorice? _

_Annabel pleaded to her dad as they waited for the gas meter to finish. Will ran his free hand through his hair and smiled down at her. _

"_Okay but be careful." She squealed in glee and ran inside the station her backpack bouncing up and down on her back. Will grinned as she ran in and continued to wait for the fill up to finish. He heard a low rumbling noise and frowned slightly. Leaning to the window a bit he whispered. "Ironhide, you alright?" _

_The topkick who Will was filling up rumbled again. "I am fine." Ironhide replied quietly. "My systems are still adjusting to the human fuel intake." _

_Will nodded glad there was nothing seriously wrong. A large scream bellowed out from the station causing both the soldier and the weapons specialist to freeze up with worry. "Annabel." Will whispered. "ANNABEL!" He dropped the gas nozzle and sprinted towards the entrance only to crash into a hooded man leaving the store. _

_Will stumbled and yelled out to the man to stop. What shocked Ironhide next was the man turned around and punched Will in the face. "WILL!" He yelled out. His comrade fell to the floor and lay there, he was knocked out. _

"_Hide, stop him!" His conscience screamed at him as he rocked on his axels devising a solution to stop the thief. Just as the thief ran past him Ironhide swung one of his doors open, smack into the mans face. Ironhide watched the man stumbled about, then fall to the ground completely dazed. Two security men apprehended him and Ironhide let out a low chuckle. "That's what you get for stealing you punk." He murmured to himself as one of the men starting inspecting his door. _

"_Must be a loose hinge." He heard the man say. _

"_My backpack!" Ironhide perked up to see Annabel running towards him and her awaiting backpack which the thief had dropped when he hit Ironhide's door. The mech grinned at the small girl running towards him. He desperately wanted to transform right there and blast the thief to smithereens but he couldn't. Bel scooped up her bag and checked everything was still intact. Then she clambered over to Ironhide, shut his door and gasped. "Oh no, poor truck has a scratch!"_

"_Don't worry sweetie, he's been through much worse." Annabel spun round to see Will walking towards her, an icepack pressed against his shoulder._

"_Daddy!" Annabel yelped and ran into his embrace. "Are you okay?" Will grinned down at his concerned daughter. _

"_A bit of a bruise but fine other than that. I'm just glad to see my girl safe." Will lifted Annabel up into his arms and stepped over to Ironhide giving a quick thumbs up to him. He placed her in the passenger seat then walked round to climb in. Before he did he quickly checked the scratch the thief had inflicted. Turns out it was much deeper than he realised. "Buddy, Ratchet may need to look at this. Way worse than I realised, I'm sorry." He spoke in a hushed tone. His phone beeped from a text. It was from Ironhide. _

"_Do not apologize. It is a pathetic injury and does not require Ratchets treatment. However your shoulder does. I will discuss this further at home._

Sighing happily she walked back round to the front of the car and smiled at her reflection in the window. "Look after dad for me while I go for a walk okay? He's probably trying to work the stove again." Chuckling to herself Annabel wandered away from the topkick and continued on down the path to the clearing. Today she was planning to go further than she had ever been, where all the bush hadn't been cut down, like a jungle.

Ironhide watched Will's daughter skip down the pathway and activated her homing beacon, a small chip disguised as a tooth filling, just in case.

She looks so much like her mother doesn't she?

Ironhide snapped back to reality as he realized Will was standing beside him.

"Yes, the little tyke sure does Will. She talked to me again. This time she told me the story of how that punk stole her bag at the petrol station and my door locks 'broke." Will laughed remembering how amusing it was to see the robber's face when the door got in his way. "Ironhide I was thinking, maybe it's time we told Annabel about the autobots." Ironhide rocked on his axels in agreement. "I've been waiting 13 years for you to tell me that old friend."

Will sighed relieved at Ironhide's co operation. "Right then it's settled, once Annabel get's back from her walk we'll have dinner and that's when I'll tell her about what I do at base then we'll come out here and we can both explain the autobots to her. You have a bit more knowledge on your race than I do."

The pair laughed loudly but Ironhide quieted when he heard his comm link going off. "That's odd, I'm supposed to be off duty today." He checked no one was in sight and transformed answering his cybertronian phone to hear a panicked Ratchet on the other end.

"Ironhide where are you?" Ratchet yelled into the phone.

Ratchet calm down what is it? I'm at the Lennox's, it's my day off."

"Thank goodness, they are safe. Ironhide, get William and Annabel to safety now there's decepticon seeker activity right on top of you!"

Ironhide growled clenching his fists. "Starscream." When he was assigned to this family he swore he would protect them from anything threatening. Ever since the accident his determination to do so grew 1000 percent.

"Will, get back in the house, Starscream's here."

What? Will yelled in shock. He paled realizing the damage that Starscream could inflict. "Wait then that means, oh no wheres Annabel?

Ironhide mentally swore. He knew he should kept an eye on her. "She's still in the woods. Quickly you find Annabel and take her back to the house and I'll go round the back and find this decepticon punk."

Will nodded loading up his gun he always carried with him. "Ok good plan, but you can't let Annabel see you. Not until I've explained."

"Alright lets roll."

**CLIFFHANGER! Want to know what happens next? Stick around and find out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello Again! New chapter and new twists! **

Annabel had just arrived at the boundaries her dad had set up. She hesitated at the perimeter fence staring at the untouched land ahead, the trees soaring to unimaginable heights. Annabel felt a little bad she was disobeying the one rule her dad gave her about her exploring trips but she couldn't help it. Who knows what was waiting out there for her to discover. Anna looked around one last time then drew in a breath and stepped up to the fence.

"I'll only have a peek. Dad doesn't even have to know." She whispered, a uneasy feeling starting to clog her conscience. Annabel slowly climbed over the fence and trudged through the dense moss and grass towards the trees. She gazed up in awe at the towering tree's, their branches blossoming with Autumn leaves. As she continued to walk onwards the ground became hidden beneath the many leaves concealing the rabbit hole approaching.

A couple steps later Annabel discovered the unstable ground by walking straight into it. She grimaced as her foot disappeared ankle deep underneath the leaves into the pothole wedging her foot itself painfully and firmly inside. Annabel tugged at her foot but it refused to budge. She yelped out as a sharp pain tore through her foot and felt something slimy slide against her leg. Annabel started to panic and wiggled her foot frantically, trying to dislodge it. After many uncomfortable squirms Annabel sucked in a breath, then threw herself forward successfully getting her foot out of the hole. She threw up her hands triumphantly and cheered, slowly climbing to her feet. A throbbing feeling now lingered on her foot so she wasted no time. She'd had enough adventuring for one day. She'd acquired a few minor injuries on previous exploration's but this one was much more, intense.

Annabel hobbled towards the fence and tipped herself over landing loudly with a thud. Cradling her foot she sat there biting her lip to prevent the tears from flowing. As she began to attempt to find her way back to the house, numerous roots and branches provided a hearty obstacle course. "Come one you stupid leg work!" Annabel yelled out to the wilderness as she fell to the ground once again. Attempting to stand proved to be another obstacle so Annabel resorted to crawling. As she desperately tried to reach the clearing, branches snapped in the distance. Annabel froze and quickly crawled behind a tree hiding away from whatever was out there. The sound of the snapping twigs got louder and so did a voice. It was her dad.

"Annabel? Where are you?" Will shouted out anxiously as he clambered over a large tree trunk. He'd been searching for a couple minutes but there was no sign of her. At one point he spotted the flattened leaves, showing signs of recent activity and quickly followed the makeshift trail. He turned by a tree and spotted the girl curled up against a tree.

Will sighed with relief and made his way over to Annabel. "Sweetie what happened to you? Took the exploring a bit far this time didn't we?" Will remarked crouching down by his daughter his concern displayed clearly. His eyes widened as he saw her injured ankle. "We should probably get that patched up. Can you walk?"

Annabel looked at him with teardrops threatening to fall and shrugged. She tried to stand one more time but failed. She buried her head in her arms and scowled "No." She muttered grumpily. "You should go get a wheelbarrow or something I'm too heavy for you to carry."

Will laughed. "I'll be the judge of that." He said with a chuckle. Will carefully lifted Annabel up in his arms suddenly grateful he went to all those training sessions. As he treaded his way into the clearing the house slided into view. They reached the entrance and Annabel squirmed to get out of his hands but the soldier continued on. Will was a little surprised to not see Ironhide back in his parking space. "_He must still be looking for that decepticon" _Will thought as he laid Annabel down on the couch. Will grabbed their emergency kit from the kitchen and started cleaning and bandaging her foot.

"Hey dad, where's the truck? I didn't see it on the way in." Will knew she would ask eventually and was stumped for words. What could he say? That the truck was off fighting a F22 jet plane?

Instead he said, "A friend dropped by as soon as you left to pick up the truck for some repairs." He fumbled for another reason for Ironhide's absence. "That truck may have some fancy equipment but its old."

Annabel nodded, seemingly convinced that what her dad was saying was true. She sat up and stretched her arms above her head. "I'm going to bed." She yawned. "I've had enough fun for today."

Will pushed forward a yawn and grinned. "You and me both. I'll carry you upstairs."

Annabel frowned and pushed away his outstretched arms. "Dad I'm 15. I think I can walk upstairs by myself." She made a move to get off the couch but Will stopped her.

"Maybe, but not with a bad ankle. I won't carry you but I will help. Sound good?" Annabel sighed and nodded, she knew either way he was going to treat her like a baby.

* * *

><p>Once Will was certain Annabel in bed he ran downstairs and outside to see if Ironhide had returned. He was but from the view in the moonlight Will could tell that the truck had some new dents and scratches.<p>

"Hey buddy, how'd it go?" Will asked walking around the truck checking for any major damage. He stood back as Ironhide transformed, revealing the full extent of the recent battle.

"Not good." Ironhide growled in reply. "Starscream had the upper hand in this one. I was scouting out the back area then he jumps me out of no where. Is Annabel alright?"

"Ratchet's going to enjoy fixing this one." Will murmured fingering a particularly large dent on the side of Ironhide's leg. "She was a little shaken up so she's gone to bed. I think the whole incident in the woods really took it out if her.

"Does she require medical attention?" Ironhide asked, tinge's of concern in his voice.

"Possibly, her ankle was sprained on her wee adventure. Very swollen for just a sprain though. Tomorrow morning I'll take a closer look. Knowing Annabel she'll start the day as if nothing has happened."

Ironhide nodded, aware of the admirable ignorance that Annabel displayed after a traumatic event. "She really is a Lennox isn't she." Ironhide acknowledged. He suddenly came up with an idea that could possibly help everybody. "I know, why doesn't Annabel come to base tomorrow. She can meet the autobots and everything. Ratchet could even take a look at her leg." Ironhide offered, almost too eagerly. Will sighed leaning against the side of the patio.

"Ironhide, now I'm not so sure if she's ready to meet you guys yet. When I found her in the wood's she was terrified, imagine how she would be if the decepticons ever targeted her? I'm just not sure she'd handle it."

Will stumbled back as Ironhide kneeled down and put his face parallel to Will's. "Will." He spoke in a deadly, serious tone. "I would never, ever let anybody, especially the decepticon's intentionally threaten or harm Annabel. And if they try." He rolled his cannons and grinned. "They'll have a hell of a fight trying."

Will swallowed, surprised at how protective the Autobot sounded. He straightened himself and thought for a minute. Then he spoke. "Alright fine how about this. Annabel has one more week of school then she's off for the summer. That's when I will tell her and she can come to base and everything. Deal?" Will waited nervously for the mech's reply. Ironhide stood up to his full height and nodded. "Deal."

Will and Ironhide's discussion came to a close and they said their goodnights. Ironhide left his comm on as he fell into recharge, just in case. Will sleepily climbed upstairs and laid on the bed, not bothering about pajama's and fell into a well deserved slumber.

The house was deadly quiet until later that night at around 3am Annabel woke. She tossed around uncomfortably trying to regain her slumber but a nagging pain in her leg prevented her to do so. About half an hour passed and Annabel found the pain almost unbearable. Throwing off her covers, Annabel ripped off the bandages off her foot and gasped at the sight. The side of her foot had two bite marks that were swollen and burning. Realization hit as she remembered how when her foot was stuck she felt something slither against it. She'd been bitten by a snake.

Will was peacefully asleep sprawled out across his bed still in his daily gear when Annabel stumbled in. She shook his shoulder trying to wake him but failed. Her dad was an incredibly deep sleeper and she was growing increasingly weak. The only thing that she knew could wake him up was, the truck horn. She looked out the window, surprised to see it'd been returned. She half flew, half fell down the stairs and burst out the front door.

Ironhide came out of recharge pretty quickly when he heard the front door slam. He quickly assumed it was Will needing him for something but held his tongue when Annabel stumbled down the steps. _What is she doing?_ He thought, concerned as she opened his door. "Must, wake, Dad. Need, help." She murmured to herself as she used the last of her strength to lean over and whack the steering wheel as hard as she could. The horn blared out, probably waking everything in a ten mile radius. Hopefully for Annabel that included her dad.

Will sat up with a jolt as the sound of Ironhide's horn blared out loud and clear. It rang for a good five seconds then stopped, revealing the sound of Ironhide's voice yelling out for him. Will wasted no time. He jumped out of bed and sprinted down the stairs wondering why Ironhide seemed so panicked to wake him up at such a late hour. Must be serious. He burst outside and immediately spotted a shadowed figure slumped on the front seat clearly unconscious. He jogged over and stopped dead at the person revealed by the moonlight in the seat. Annabel.

Will was at her side in seconds shaking her softly asking what was wrong. "Annabel? Can you hear me?" No response. Will carefully lifted Annabel out of the drivers seat and buckled her in the back. Will then ran back to the house to lock the door then was back in the front seat hands already shaking."Ironhide." Was all he managed to mumble out but it sent a clear enough message to the autobot. Ironhide started his engine and sped down the driveway while keeping a careful monitor on Annabel.

"I have notified Ratchet, he and the human medical officers will be ready when we arrive." Ironhide said, doing his best to comfort the distraught father. Will simply nodded his hands shaking from worry over his daughter.

"What was she doing out here?" Will wondered out loud. "Why didn't she just come wake me?"

"She probably did, you know how much of a deep sleeper you are." Ironhide remarked, understanding why she used his horn to wake her slumbering father. His horn was probably the only thing she could think of at the time that would be loud enough to wake him. They continued speeding down the road to base when Ironhide received a call.

"Ironhide here." He answered gruffly.

"Ironhide, it's Ratchet, how is the youngling doing." Ironhide angled his mirrors to see Will reach over the seat to brush back Annabel's hair. She moved slightly and groaned causing Will to gasp and Ironhide to swerve a little.

"She's waking up. What should we do?" Ironhide demanded to the medic. Ratchet cringed slightly at the sound, aware that Ironhide would probably be blaming himself for the incident.

Ratchet regained his composure and spoke. "For now, just keep her conscious, I am unaware of the extent of her injuries. What is your ETA?"

"Two minutes and 32 seconds." Ironhide growled, loathing the speed limit put on the roads. He did not have time to be chased by the human authorities all night so he kept to the limit, only barely.

"I will be waiting." Ironhide went to hang up but Ratchet began to speak once more. "And Ironhide?" The medic asked.

"Yes what is it?" Ironhide replied, unsure of how to respond to the medics suddenly calm and almost kind tone of voice.

"She'll be alright."

**Will Ironhide get there in time? Will they find out what's wrong with Annabel? Stay tuned! **


	4. Chapter 4

The dim lights of the base quickly approached and soon enough, Ironhide burst through the hangar doors, yelling for people to clear the path. He sped on to medbay and quickly stopped allowing Will to get out and run with Annabel in his arms to the awaiting berth. The medical officers helped him place her down, murmuring medical terms. As they wheeled her off with Will running behind, Ironhide transformed to follow but was stopped by a certain med bot. Ratchet pulled Ironhide back giving him an solemn stare. "I need you to come with me." He said, keeping his hold on Ironhide's arm. "Your'e still damaged from that recent brawl with Starscream."

"I just can't leave them." He protested angrily as Ratchet continued to restrain him.

Ratchet rolled his eyes. "You are not leaving them. What use will you be to Lennox and his daughter if you are not functioning yourself?" Ratchet beckoned for Jazz with a quick nod to help hold down Ironhide. The mech grabbed Ironhide's other arm and the pair slowly dragged the furious weapon's specialist to med-bay.

"Ironhide take it easy! You'll see them soon!" Jazz yelled, trying to get Ironhide to calm down.

"Take it easy? Annabel could be dying for all we know and you want me to take it easy?" He roared, struggling against the bots as they strapped him against the the berth. Jazz looked at Ratchet as he grabbed a syringe of clear liquid.

"Doc, are you sure that's a good idea?" Jazz asked nervously as Ratchet stuck the needle into Ironhide, the strong cybertronian needle passing through the tough exterior. Ironhide thrashed his cannons powering up, threatening to go off when he suddenly slowed, his systems slowing and his optics fading, forcing him into stasis.

"It's a mild sedative, it's the only way to keep him calm while the Lennox daughter is being attended to." Jazz nodded, looking guiltily at Ironhide's peaceful form.

Will paced anxiously in the hallway, his hand's clasped together and shaking as he saw the nurse who'd told him to wait approach him. "I need to see her," Will said, his eye's sore from worry. The nurse looked at him with calm eyes and spoke.

"Mr Lennox, sir, please follow me, we will notify when your daughter is out of surgery then you may see her." Will was lost for words so he just nodded and followed the nurse down the corridor to the mess hall. There were a few other of his colleagues there he ignored them as they waved and sat down in one of the chairs head in hands. Will breathed in shakily and felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see the nurse smiling at him. "We will let you know as soon as we can, I need to go talk to a few doctors but if I hear anything, I will come straight to you." Will smiled weakly, nodding his head.

"Thankyou." was all he managed to say as she patted his shoulder then scurried off down the corridor leaving Will sitting there, trying to take in all that has happened. His thoughts were interrupted as the Autobot sized mess hall doors burst open, Ironhide bounding in. "Where are they?" He bellowed as all humans stared up in surprise at the giant mech. Ironhide scoped the room out and found will sitting by himself head in hands.

"Will."

Sunlight cracked through an open window bouncing off the white bedsheets of a hospital bed. Will yawned, stretching his arms then slowly realized he was still in the chair by Annabel's bed. he'd been sitting in for 2 days almost waiting for her to wake up. After Ironhide had found him they'd both attempted to gain access to Annabel's room, Will finally being able to do so after a couple of hours. He stretched his arms again and stood walking over to the heart monitor. The captain tapped on the screen but withdrew his hand when he heard footsteps and relieved to see they belonged to Ironhide's holoform, worry for his comrade's daughter clearly shown.

"She's stable." Was all Will needed to say, Ironhide smiled and sat down in one of the chair's next to the bed. Ironhide looked at Will and realized how fatigued he really was. The man was a mess. His stress and exhaustion levels were spiking and Hide could see clearly the man hadn't eaten or slept properly since Annabel had been brought in for treatment.

"Will, you need to eat and rest. Go to the cafeteria and I will remain here and watch Annabel."

Will shook his head. "No, she needs me right now and I am not leaving until I see my girl wake up."

A small groan caught the audio receivers of both Will and Hide so they turned and saw Annabel's eyes flutter open. "Annabel!" Will said relief flooding his voice as he walked over to the bed grinning ear to ear. "Hey Bel, how are you doing?"

The girl cracked a weak smile rubbing her eyes with her hands. "Ugh could be better but I'm just glad you're here. Where are we?"

Will sat down and clasped her hand softly. "Were at the base where I work. Ratchet said the snake bite was too well spread to get to a hospital in time so he brought you here. You're going to be fine, I know this place like the back of my hand so I'll be here to help you get back on your feet."

Anna pushed herself up into a sitting position grinning a bit more broadly. "Thanks dad, I appreciate it, boy that sure was a.." Her voice trailed off as she threw the blanket off only to see that one of her legs, up to the knee, was gone. "Oh." She whispered, paling suddenly. Ironhide stood up in shock as he like Annabel, did not know the extreme consequences of the poison. Ironhide quickly shoved his seat back and stormed out of the hospital room. Will saw that but ignored him as Annabel seemed to be taking it a whole lot worse than Ironhide was.

She felt her hand being squeezed as Will looked into her eyes tears starting to form. "Honey, when the snake bit you, the poison travelled at a extremely fast rate but luckily Ratchet was on the scene and managed to stop the flow before it took your whole leg. He saved your life, my baby girl is ok." Will drew his daughter into a hug feeling her sob silently into his shoulder. Brushing his hand through her hair he closed his eyes blinking back his tears. He needed to be strong for his girl. Hearing the sound of footsteps Will looked up to see Ratchet in the doorway with with a grim, worried face. Will nodded at him letting Annabel snuggle back into the covers for some rest. "We're ok. We're all ok..."


	5. UPDATE

**Hey peeps so I've decided to discontinue this story as I have completely lost track of the plot and realised its very similar to my other story "Safe House" - except safe house has wayy more direction and a clearer plot for me to work with **

**So that being said I apologise to anyone who woke up every morning in hope to receive an update on this story - which I highly doubt many of you did considering that this is probably one of my weaker stories (:**

**If anyone has further interests about this story or any other stories statuses then don't hesitate to ask. Reviews are really brilliant feedback so if you fancy praising me for all the glory that I am then go ahead.**

**i'll be waiting. **


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